PE review required. Sample illustrative output. Every recommendation here must be reviewed and stamped by a licensed Professional Engineer before use in any bid commitment or construction document.
Northgate Logistics Center Electrical Service
Electrical · service & distribution
Why bid: Service and distribution work is our core electrical scope. The package ships with a complete panel schedule set and a single-point utility connection, so estimation is driven by quantity takeoff rather than scope discovery. We already buy through the owner's listed gear vendor, which removes the substitution risk that usually eats margin on a package like this.
Speculative 480,000 SF distribution center with a new 2,000A, 277/480V service and full interior distribution for dock equipment, rack lighting and an EV-ready parking field. Meridian Build Group, the GC of record, issued a complete panel schedule set with a single-point utility connection at the pad-mounted transformer. Gear lead time of 26-32 weeks on the main switchboard sets the critical path and must be released at notice-to-proceed to hold the tenant delivery date. The scope also carries a 1,200A dock busway and a 40-port Level 2 charging field, both as owner allowances. No tenant fit-out is in this package, which keeps the takeoff clean and the scope bounded.
Service point is confirmed single-ended at the north yard. No utility-side switchgear or primary coordination is in our scope, which removes the line-side ambiguity that usually drives a large contingency.
Main switchboard and 38 panelboards ship as a single gear order. Release at NTP with a locked 90-day price; any award delay pushes the tenant delivery date one-for-one.
The 1,200A dock busway and the 40-port charging field are carried as owner allowances. Pricing them as alternates keeps the base bid clean while preserving the upside if the owner takes both.
2,000A 277/480V main switchboard with feeder and panelboard distribution; 800A house panel
Switchboard lead time slips past the tenant delivery date
HIGHMitigation: Release the gear PO at NTP. Lock pricing and ship date for 90 days; qualify a second gear vendor as backup.
Utility transformer setting and service point shift during coordination
MEDIUMMitigation: Hold service coordination until the utility issues a firm service point; carry a feeder re-route allowance.
Underground feeder routing conflicts with the site storm and water lines
MEDIUMMitigation: Clash-check the ductbank against the civil package before bid; require a recorded utility plan at preconstruction.
Charging-field specification and port count still open
LOWMitigation: Price the charging field as a unit-rate alternate; exclude the owner's network subscription.
Who furnishes and installs the pad-mounted transformer — owner or contractor?
HIGH priorityBid form lists 'service equipment' without delineating line-side responsibility. $180-260K swing on transformer and primary conductors.
Is the dock busway in base scope or carried as an alternate?
MEDIUM priorityDrawings show the busway but the bid form carries no line item. Moves the base by roughly $210K.
Confirm the charging-field port count and whether networking is in scope.
MEDIUM prioritySpec and drawings disagree at 32 vs 40 ports; network subscription is owner-furnished in one section and contractor in another.
- Main switchboard and panelboard gear order (single-point release)
- Feeder conductor and raceway — ~14,800 LF across the interior distribution
- Dock busway and charging-field allowances (alternate pricing)
- Labor loading for a fast-track tenant delivery schedule
This is one of three sample analyses.
Bring a real geotech package to a 30-minute demo and we'll run a cited analysis on it together.